We act and perform in accordance with our beliefs. Our beliefs reside in the unconcious, which means that many of us are not even aware of why we are the way we are!

So – what happens when we are not acting in our own best interest? Are you letting your fears stop you from taking action? Do you find yourself stuck? Are you restricting the choices you have?

How do we get out of our own way?

Here are 3 ways of moving beyond.

Master your Inner Game (to borrow a phrase from Tim Gallwey of The Inner Game fame)You see – we play 2 games – an inner game and an outer game. The outer game is played against your opponent. The inner game is played against yourself, and is full of anxiety and self-doubt. We need to Master our Inner Game.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mglMtDVefx8

Positive Self Talk – are you aware of what you say to yourself every day? It can and does make a huge difference in how think and act.
– When my son was 14, I had him take out a large piece of flip chart paper, and a set of markers – and spend 30 minutes noting his goals for the year. There were 4! I had him re-do it in the present tense – and then paste it on the wall opposite his bed, so that it was the first thing he saw as he opened his eyes. It was done under duress – and as a pacifier to whacky mom. When all his 4 goals had become reality by Christmas – he was a believer! He re-did them on Jan 1st for 6 months this time. Again and again they have become reality! He is now an evangelist!
– Repeat positive phrases to yourself all day – and do so in the present tense. It may sound like –I live a blessed, wonderful, fulfilled life; I am successful in my sales career; I have made 3 new contacts today; I am the best!etc. I have even been known to put it to music.. .and I often amuse myself and make up jingles.

Sit in Silence – Silence is a source of great strength. ~Lao Tzu
Silence has an energy and power all of its own. We come to know our stregnth and our power through silence. We live in a world where we seldom have occassion to be quiet. Think of all the noise and interruptions you are exposed to. Our lives are run by ringings and buzzings and words and music.
Sit in silence for at least 15 minutes every day. At first, you will be surprised at how hard that is. Then – you will come to see the beauty in the silence. Many people run from themselves, and don’t want to be alone with their thoughts.
Sit with your thoughts – make friends with yourself – and see the emerging grace.

Image source The depth of the problem determines the value of the solution. Your great ideas always face frivolous dismissal if they don’t solve a painful problem or a felt need. Don’t begin with solutions; begin with problems. Explore them. Feel them. Own them. Let their ugliness rise up. Picking at scabs: Do you know people or organizations that live with persistent pain and dissatisfaction? I do. It’s amazing to hear someone say, “I’m not read … Read More

‘Whether you think you can or you think you can’t – you’re right’ Henry Ford

When I was recruited to Xerox back in the 90’s as a sales executive in their business outsourcing division, my role was to go after the big game – schedule A banks, and major financial institutions. My quota was >$5M/year!

I should have received the award for best actor – what did I say and do to let them believe I was able to do this! They welcomed me on board – seemed genuinely glad that I was there – and they had high expectations! I realized that my belief in myself was incongruent to achieving my sales success at Xerox. Something had to be done!

Psychologists tell us that we act and perform in accordance with our beliefs. Our beliefs reside in the unconcious – the deepest part of our mind. Which means that for most of us – we are not even aware of why we are the way we are!

For those of you who have been hypnotised, you will recognize that hypnosis attempts to get through your conscious, subconscious and down to the unconcious mind, to ‘suggest’ changing those beliefs – which is why you will find that those who have been hypnotised successfully will perform/say or do things that they would not do if their filters were on. It is wise to note, that we will not do anything that betrays our beliefs even in the deepest hynosis! So – we act and perform in accordance with our beliefs.

These beliefs protect us and shield us from harm – it is our mind’s defense system! And, they are non-partisan and non-biased, and formed based on experiences and lessons as a young mind. What may have served as an effective defense mechanism in the past may not be needed now, but our unconcious is not aware of that (hence the name ‘unconcious!)

The dilemna comes when you are ‘supposed’ to be acting/doing/saying something – and you find yourself unwilling/unable to perform.

Case in point – how many sales people are instructed to ‘call high’ – get 4 high-value calls per week with the C suite. And, we find ourselves week after week, unable to do so – reaching and speaking with the operations or mangement level.

The reasons may be the ones we give our managers weekly, or it may be that calling ‘high’ is incongruent with our belief system.

Does any of your head-chatter sound like…‘what am I supposed to say to the CFO?; what if they pick up the phone?; I am only selling xxxx! They are going to tell me to go to IT. What am I going to say to the screener? I sound goofy when I get nervous. I’ve got too much stuff to do! They pile us up with admin stuff and then they want us to cold call. Who has the time?……

I sit here on a beautiful Thursday almost afternoon – with the cold calling blues!
Do you know what I mean?

That,

draggy, laggy groove

I know what to do so what is the problem

it’s so nice outside, maybe a walk would be a good idea

I have no other reason to put this off

it will all be better once I connect with someone

did I have breakfast

I need to write a post – because I’ve responded to my e-mail, tweeted; and brushed my teeth

….groove.

And so you know – my cold call success closing rate is over 90%. That is – I make an appointment with more than 90% of the people I get on the phone!

High results – I’ve been doing this for a while – and I train this stuff – I better be good

So – cold calling is no fun! And it’s much more fun to check your voice mail and your e-mail to find out who is looking to buy something from you!

Having said that, we ALL have to do it, if we want to sell!

Yes, I know you read that cold calling is dead – and there are other ways around it – sure – we can have a ‘tepid’ call by using your Social Networking tools – using your references to provide names ya ya ya – but we still have to pick up the phone and make that initial call to someone You don’t know!

Here are the Top 3 things to do to ensure that when you do call – it will end up an appointment.

Know who you are calling – know the company; goals; objectives; in the news; etc. Know the contact – know their title, something about them – no excuses – tons of info out there.

Know yourself – your company, your solutions – and their relevance to your contact. Have a clear ‘brand’ of you, your company – when asked…’so, what exactly do you do?’ – can you explain in 1 sentence (15 words or less?). What are your references – where have you been successful in the past?

Know how to communicate the message – how does the opportunities, challenges faced by your prospect align to you and your company. Everyone wants to know WIIFM – what’s in it for me – and saying ‘I was just in the neighborhood and wanted to stop by’ or ‘I only need 10 minutes of your time ‘and ‘I’m not trying to sell you anything’ won’t cut it! Make it convesational. It helps if you picture a 3rd cousin once removed – some connection, all be it, distant.

I did pick up the phone to call, and I did get an appointment………

Transcript as follows:

Me: Good morning, Julie, this is Margaret from Turbo Charge your sales.

Julie: good morning Margaret

Me; Julie, I must be honest with you – this is a cold call – and I dislike cold calling – however, in reading your president’s message, I saw where you are challenged with the ability of your sales force to deliver revenue, and it really got my attention.

Julie; Yes, that is a big push for us for balance of year.

Me; Tell me more?

Julie; Well, we have a dichotomy in our sales force – half have over 20 years experience and the other half have less than 5 – so the message is inconsistent

Me; Do you have a common sales language?

Julie; Ha, ha!

Me: How successful is your team in making hi-value calls – and do they all have the same describtion of hi-value?

Julie: Well….good questions…..not sure how to answer that.

Me; Julie – I have worked with several Fortune 500 companies, and it will comfort you to know, that many have the same challenges. What I bring to the table is experience and excellence and the knowledge of how to use your existing resources to boost revenue.